gus' birth story...

i meant to jot down gussy's birth a while ago, but i got busy with all that nursing, diaper changing, and smooching his beautiful baby skin. i feel like now is a good time to document it though since it's still fresh in my mind and yet not so fresh that i still have stitches in my hoo-ha...

on saturday october 15th, i went to bed feeling pretty good, but throughout the night i kept having "braxton hicks" contractions which wasn't really a big deal since i had been having them for a few weeks, but these seemed to be coming more regularly. on sunday, i woke up a little late for church, but decided to still shower and look cute for church. i just felt like it was a special day. i put on my favorite dress at the time (a cute lil frock brynn let me borrow) and some sexy wedges and headed out the door to meet josh at church.

during church i kept having more contractions (which turned out to be early labor) so i walked the halls and left a little early to go relax at home. i didn't really think too much about the contractions for the next few hours. i made chicken tacos for josh and i and josh's super sweet home teaching companion, dwayne. oh, and i burned some tortillas in our oven and our super sensitive smoke detector went off. josh and dwayne left after lunch to go home teaching and i stayed home drooling over pinterest recipes.

by 2:30, i had some bloody show so i called my mom to let her know what was going on ( i had already been texting her about my regular contractions) and she said that this baby would prob be coming in the next few days.

i walked and walked and bounced around for the next couple of hours to use gravity to get gus out, but by 6:30 the contractions were getting more intense so i had to lay down. i called my mom to head to indiana because this baby was coming fast. josh was awesome through it all. he made me some peanut butter and honey toast (our dula friend told us to eat a snack before things got too crazy) and made sure i breathed nice and good through each contraction.

i tried to stay home until my mom got into town from ohio, but things were getting intense, so at 9 we headed to the hospital. we live a hop, skip and a jump away but it felt like a much longer jaunt.

we checked into the er and they acted like it was nbd that i was crying and shaking. i'm pretty sure they thought i was at a 2 since i was almost 3 weeks early. after like 10 mins, they wheeled me up to a room, gave me a gown and a cup to pee in, and got me all hooked up to the machines. i was having a lot of back pain, so sitting was really hard, but i rocked back and forth while we waited. after 2 nurses checked me, they determined i was 10 cm dilated! yippee! my biggest fear is that i would be at a 1. my mom arrived and they broke my water (which felt like heaven) and soon after the on call doctor got there and i started pushing. because i was having back labor, i pushed squatting while holding this bar that they attached to the bed. best. thing. ever. after 5 pushes and 1 ring of fire, gus was here and josh and i were in baby heaven.

there is nothing sweeter than a newborn. i was so proud of myself for having gus naturally and so grateful for all those that were so supportive in that decision especially josh. he let me talk his ear off about the bradley method and even did the exercises with me. such a stud.

gus has changed my world forever and i'm so glad josh and i get to be with him for eternity. he fills our days with smiles and squeals...and sometimes screams, but we wouldn't have it any other way.